Spider Man: A Different Path
by Wolf873
Summary: An alternative course of events in which Peter becomes a more aggressive Spider Man after a failure to separate from the alien entity.
1. Chapter 1: Approaching Storm

**SPIDER-MAN **: **A Different Path**

CHAPTER 1: APPROACHING STORM

In a dark alley, deep within Manhattan, a middle-aged woman is being harassed by two masked men. One is holding her tight by her arms and the other held a knife on her throat while cackling like a jackal. The woman screamed at the top of her lungs, but those screams were drowned by the raging thunder and hard rain that poured down from the dark and gloomy sky. The man holding the knife reached for the woman's hairs and began cutting them bit by bit. The two men laughed menacingly as they tortured the poor woman. The woman continued to scream for help and tried to free herself but the one holding her was far more stronger than she was herself. As the masked man with knife reached for the woman's shirt, something shoved the knife out of his hand with a tremendous force.

The two men, now fearful and alert, looked around but saw nothing but the empty street and there was nothing else in that alley. "Hey, Brad. Go look," the one holding the woman down said to his partner. "Me, you go," said the other man known as Brad. "Hell no. Besides, someone has to prevent her from gettin' away, now go." Brad, his heart pounding hard and he can feel it, took little steps towards the deeper end of the alley which was pitch black. The woman and the man holding her stood motionless as he made his way into the alley, tears trickling down woman's cheeks. Few moments later he disappeared into the darkness. A couple of minutes passed before his partner started to get worried. "Hey man, what's taking you so long?" he asked. "C'mon man, answer." There was complete silence now except for the sound of thundering clouds and falling rain splattering against hard ground. Then suddenly, out of the dark, a body came flying across and dropped right in front of the masked man and his hostage. It was the body of his partner and it lay motionless.

The man jerked the woman aside and darted outwards from the alley. But before he could get out, a single thread line shot out of the dark portion of the alley and glued itself to the shirt of the masked man. The man was pulled back with great force and was sent flying back into the dankness from whence the thread came. The woman heard something crack and fall to the ground with a loud thudding noise. The woman was frozen with fear. The darkness that seemed to cover the alleyway appeared to have moved, or at least part of it. A dark figure stepped out. Even in the dim light that was available from a street lamp across the road from the alley, the figure still appeared to be fully clothed in a black suit. As it made its way towards the woman, her expression was even more fearful than it was when she was tormented by the masked men, who she gathered might possibly be dead now.

The black suited Spider-Man approached the woman. "You know better to come in a place like this at this time of night," he told her with an authoritative tone. The woman couldn't say word out of fear, but did manage to mumble out scrambled words. "If I see you walking down this alley again..." the woman interrupted him before he could finish, "Please, I just...just use it as a short-cut... I won't come down here again I promise... please just let me go," as she said that, she fell down on her knees crying, pleading for her life. Spider-Man stood tall, his shadow looming over hers. He jerked his head, motioning her to go away. The woman ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Spider-Man wasting no more time, shoots a web-line on a nearby building and swings out of the alley.

Landing on top of an old, worn down apartment building, Spider-Man sits down on the edge of the roof. The rain continues to pour down, but soft. He looks down at the city for a few seconds and then looks up at the sky, which is covered with thick, dark clouds. He then looks down on himself and sees that he, too, is wearing a black suit. The mask reverts itself and reveals the face of Peter Parker. The look of disgust and hate present on his face. Peter continues to stare at his hand, which is all wrapped around some alien being that resembles his Spider-Man costume but all clad in black. He remembers back to the day when his life took a turn for the worse or in Peter's mind, for better. The day he lost and gained everything. The day he ended a life by his own two hands. But Peter was just doing his job, at least that is what he thought and that is what he was taught; _With Great Powers, Comes Great Responsibility_, and it was his, Peter's and Spider-Man's, responsibility to rid the world of those who prey on the innocent.


	2. Chapter 2: Venom Within

CHAPTER 2: VENOM WITHIN

**Few years ago in New York City**

The black-suited Spider-Man sits atop a building, looking down at the city to spot any sign of trouble, but all seems to be quite. The full moon shines with a distinctive aura. A sudden, fierce explosion below disturbs the harmony of the night. Spider-Man quickly sets his gaze upon a burning building, a bank and an unmistakable figure of the Hobgoblin flying out of the blown up portion of the wall. Without wasting time, Spider-Man shoots a web-line and quickly swings through the air after his adversary.

Hobgoblin looks back to find Spider-Man following him and quickly gaining distance. "Give it up Goblin," Spider-Man calls after him, as he shoots another web-line. "Woo Spider-Man, you know that line never works," Hobgoblin says, showing that ugly smile through his green mask. "I don't know why I bother saying that either," Spider-Man says to himself. Hobgoblin laughs and cackles as he removes a small, pumpkin shaped bomb from his glider. Speeding up and quickly making a U-turn, Hobgoblin thrusts the bomb straight towards Spider-Man. Spider-Man while swinging, quickly shoots a web-line towards the bomb with his left hand, and swinging it in a full, horizontal, 360 degrees angle, thrusts it back towards the flying menace. Hobgoblin dives out of bomb's path, the bomb explodes upon contact with a building, part of which goes up in flames. Spider-Man ignores the flaming building and continues his pursuit.

"Muwahahahaha! Catch me if you can bug boy," Hobgoblin says as he accelerates his glider even more. "Here, I created something new just for you." The Hobgoblin takes out another pumpkin bomb and throws it towards Spider-Man. As soon as it comes close, Spider-Man shoots another web-line but this time he misses, because the bomb had opened up to reveal some sort of a net. It envelopes itself around Spider-Man as he falls through the air. The net appears to be made of hard metal and seems to be shrinking itself as Spider-Man struggles.

Spider-Man falls towards the ground and lies there for few seconds, trying to recover from a spinning vision. He tries to get free but the net shrinks even more. Hobgoblin hovers above him and continues to laugh menacingly. "So, did you like my new toy? I had it made just for you. It squeezes its victims as they struggles to get free," he explains. "But that's not all, the wires are very sharp, I wouldn't struggle too much if I were you." Hobgoblin cackles even more. Spider-Man continues to struggle and realizes that the wires really are very sharp, as they had just cut through his suit, by few a millimeters. But thanks to the alien symbiote, that constituted his costume, the wires did not get through to his skin. "You haven't seen what this new Spider-Man is capable of you sorry excuse for a Goblin," Spider-Man shouts at him as he begins to exert more force, which ultimately breaks the net. Hobgoblin, not laughing anymore, quickly accelerates out of Spider-Man's reach. "Hey, where are you goin'? I thought we were gonna play a lil' while longer." Spider-Man follows the Hobgoblin through the city.

Hobgoblin reaches for his last bomb in his stack and hurls it at Spider-Man, which not his surprise, misses him again. "Leave me alone!" Hobgoblin shouts at Spider-Man. Ignoring what he had just said, Spider-Man continues to pursue him. Realizing that it is starting to get boring, Spider-Man shoots two impact webbing at the thruster's exhaust. "What the.." Hobgoblin mutters out as his glider begins to fly in an awkward manner. "Damn you wall crawler, I just had it repaired." The glider begins to loose its altitude, and Spider-Man gains more distance. Hobgoblin steers the glider at the closest building, an old church. The glider crashes at the bell tower and sends its rider flying through the air. Hobgoblin hits the huge bell with a great force which causes the bell to go off with a loud clang. Spider-Man, as he gets nearer, begins to feel dizzy but struggles to reach the bell tower. As he lands on the edge of the tower, he begins to scream and covers his ears as if the sound was like a sword being poked through his head. Hobgoblin looks at the screaming figure of Spider-Man and soon realizes what's going on. "Oh, so the sound hurts your ears," he says with excitement, while also sneering at him. "Well lets bring on more of it." As Hobgoblin reaches for the church bell, Spider-Man gathering his strength, shoots a web- line at him and pulls him back. That action alone sucks a lot of juice out of him, Spider-Man collapses on the floor. Hobgoblin without wasting any more time, again rushes towards the bell, which had stopped clanging. As Hobgoblin reaches for the bell, something wraps itself around both of his hands. He looks at what it is.

A large black entity stands tall over him, holding his hands with some sort of appendages projected from its body, its hideous face smiling at him. The surprised Goblin looks at the man lying on the floor beside the creature, to which it is partially attached. The creature recedes back towards its host, appendages still at their place, holding the Hobgoblin. Reformed figure of Spider-Man jerks his head and slowly gets up. "Trying to kill someone are we," said Spider-Man with a sinister tone. "Well, rest assured, someone will die tonight and it _won't _be me." Hobgoblin, shivering with fear from what he have just observed, stands still in his place, the alien suit reverts the appendages that were holding him down. "What the hell are you?" he asked as he gasps. Spider-Man takes few steps closer to him. "Death personified," Spider-Man replied, in an almost hissing sound. "You see, I'm tired of cleaning this city with low-life, scum-bags like yourself. I think it's about time I clean this city up, _my way_." Hobgoblin walks away slowly as Spider-Man gets nearer. But there is no more room to move about, Hobgoblin is cornered.

Before he even realized, Spider-Man was squeezing the life out of Hobgoblin, both his hands tightly clutched around his throat. Hobgoblin mutters a few words but Spider-Man is only interested in squeezing the hell out of him. "You...can't...ugh...uh...do...this," Hobgoblin manages to say. Spider-Man gazes at his victim, tightening his grip even more. "Watch me," Spider-Man hisses, his voice filled with hatred. The wiggling figure of Hobgoblin tries to push off its attacker, but the attacker is far too strong for him. "Die like the worm you are!" Hobgoblin stops moving. Spider-Man still continues to squeeze the idle body. Realizing that the man is dead, Spider-Man quickly pulls back and watches the body fall to the wooden floor. He then looks at his hands. _What have I done_, he thinks,_ what have I done?_ The feeling of guilt and horror crosses his mind all at once. "No, nooooo!" he shouts out, banging his hands on the walls of the bell tower. "It's about time I got rid of you," he says to the suit he is wearing. Spider-Man struggles to pull off the costume but has no luck, the suit is stuck to his body like his own skin. "Get off you alien monstrosity," he shouts as he pulls the suit from around his arm. It stretches out like a rubber but collapses back onto his arm. "No, please. Get off!" Without warning, the alien projects appendages from various parts of the suit and wraps them around the portion of the mask, and the mask itself tightens around Spider-Man's face. He is being suffocated by the suit. Spider-Man continues to struggle to get free but it all starts to go black, and soon he falls to the ground, drowned in complete darkness.


	3. Chapter 3: Spoiled Image

Sorry for late update, bin sick.

CHAPTER 3: SPOILED IMAGE

"Mr. Jameson, there's someone here to see you," a woman speaks through the intercom. J. Jonah Jameson sits at his desk, looking into a small mirror; combing his hairs. "Miss Brant, I thought I told you that I don't want to be disturbed," he rants at her through his intercom. "He says he has something to show you," Betty Brant replies. "Something concerning Spider-Man." That name gets his attention, he quickly drops the little hair comb on his desk and speaks into his intercom, "Send him in."

A tall man, with short blond hairs walks into the office with a brown folder clutched in his right hand. Jameson's eyes widen as he recognizes the man. "Aren't you that guy who got busted for false report?" asked Jameson. "What was your name..." The man quickly saves him the trouble of trying to recall his name, "It's Eddie Brock, sir."

"Brock, well what're you here for?" Jameson asks, leaning back on his chair and putting a cigar in his mouth which he had just taken out of his second drawer to the right his desk. "If you're lookin' for a job, I'm fresh out." Eddie holds out the brown folder in front of the editor. Jameson snatches it from his hands and quickly flips through it. The images in the folder were that of Spider-Man and the felon known as the Hobgoblin. "Those images are from last night's scene at the old church where I followed Spider-Man and Hobgoblin," Eddie Brock explained. "Just give me a job here and those are yours." Jameson smiles, his eyes gleaming with triumph as he goes through those photos again and nods his head in response to Eddie's demand.

Peter wakes up, startled by the knock at the door of his apartment. He realizes he was dripping in his sweat even though the temperature of the room was quite cool. The knock came again, followed by a soft voice of a woman, "Peter, you up yet?" Peter quickly gets up from bed, which creaks as he does, and unlocks the door. A red haired woman enters the room. "Hey, MJ," Peter says. "You sound really sick, are you feeling alright?" Mary Jane asks. Both sit down beside each other on the bed. Mary Jane feels Peter's forehead but he quickly pushes it away, gently. "I'm fine," he says, looking down at the wooden floor, his mind somewhere else. "Are you sure?" she asks again, her face filled with concern. "Yes," Peter says, taking a sigh. He was more concerned about how did he get here and dressed up in different clothes. The last thing he could remembered was the loud clanging of a huge bell. "You didn't see today's paper, did you?" Mary Jane asks. "Not unless I can read with my eyes closed during my sleep," Peter says, forcing a smile. Mary Jane takes out a copy of _Daily Bugle_ and hands it over to Peter, who takes it without interest. But his interest quickly changes when he reads the headline and the article that follows and two photos printed side by side of Spider-Man swinging out of the church and Hobgoblin's dead body.

**SPIDER-MAN, A MURDERING HERO**

_Spider-Man finally shows his true colors after committing a hideous act of__ murder last night_ _at __**Our Lady of Saints**_**' **_church. Spider-Man chased down a felon named the__** Hobgoblin **__at the church_ _after the felon robbed a bank, the photographer who took the above shots and the only witness present at the crime scene testified. Hobgoblin may be a criminal but that does not give Spider-Man the right to judge who lives or dies. The New York City Police Department says..._

Enraged, Peter hurls the paper aside and covers his face with both his hands. Mary Jane puts her arms around him, trying to comfort hm. "I'm sure this is all a mistake," she says, running her left hand through his hairs. Last night's events flashes through his mind, the horrified face of the Hobgoblin and his struggle with unearthly being that had bonded to his body. As soon as he remembers the alien, he stands up with a jolt and begins to search for the black suit. "Peter, what are you looking for?" Mary Jane asks, watching Peter shove all his clothes out of the closet, and having no luck finding the whatever he was looking for, he moves on to search his bed. "The suit," Peter tells her. "Which suit? You mean your costume? You just threw it out with the rest of the clothes..." Peter interrupts her as he goes through his bed looking under the sheets, "I mean the black one." He leaves no corner of the apartment untouched in search for the black suit.

"Where the hell is it?" Peter angrily says to himself. Mary Jane bends down and peeks under his bed while sitting on top of it. She pulls something out, the black suit. Mary Jane smiles at Peter and thrusts the costume towards him. He catches it and looks at it with hatred. "I always liked you in red and blue, that one gives me the creeps," she says pointing at the black suit, making a frowny face. "Couldn't agree with you more," Peter acknowledges. "It's time I got rid of you."


	4. Chapter 4: Broken Hearts

**Chapter 4: Broken Hearts**

"Hey, Annie," Eddie Brock greeted his wife as she opened the door of her apartment. "I brought you some flowers." He held out the bouquet of red roses in front of her, as he stretched an anxious smile across his face. Anne Weying did not seem much happy to see him. Eddie Brock, too, lost his smile and removed the flowers from her sight. "May I at least come in?" he asked, letting out a sigh that seemed to convey that he was tired of her usual behavior towards him. Anne without saying retreated back into her apartment, leaving the door opened. Eddie Brock followed her in and the closed the door behind him. All of the lights of her small, worn out apartment were off except for that of the kitchen and another coming from her muted tv. Laying down the flowers on dinner table, he approached her in the kitchen.

"Look Annie, I'm sorry for all that has happened in the past few months," he said to her, she still remained silent, not facing him. "I promise you, everything will be okay." His desperate attempt to get her to speak didn't seem to have worked, she stood still with her arms crossed. Eddie walked about the kitchen, but not trying to go in her sight. "Annie, please, say something," Eddie couldn't stand her silence and whispered under his breath, _Damn_. "What?" she finally said firmly and then turned around to face him. "Say what?" There were tears in her eyes. "Annie, please, you know that I love you and..." Anne intervened quickly as Eddie Brock said those words. "No! You never loved me, Eddie" she shouted. "All you ever cared about was your job and yourself." Eddie Brock narrowing his eyebrows and trying to his best not to shout in disagreement, said in soft tone, "Where would you get an idea like that? I have always loved you and I still do and forever will."

"Eddie, please, don't make it even more hard than it already is, on me and you," Anne said, tears trickling down her eyes. "You had your chance, and like always, you made the wrong choice." Eddie in his heart knew that what she had said is true, he had been selfish in the past. "You're right, but please listen, all that I did was for you," Eddie said with desperation in his voice. "How could I have been a provider if I had no job?" Anne glared at him angrily. "Eddie, if you ever respected me enough, you know that my job could have helped us through until you found another job," she said, her eyes bloodshot. "Except, all you would do is lock yourself up in your room and whine about how Spider-Man made you lose your job. You can't blame someone else for what happened to you." Eddie Brock flared at the name of Spider-Man but was able to keep his cool. "Look, I got another job at the Bugle and now I can..." Eddie quickly knew that wasn't the right thing to say but before he could say anything else, he is harshly interrupted by Anne, "You still don't get it do you? It's not about the damn job or anything else, it's about you and me." Eddie kept silent, not making eye contact with her. After a moment of no response from Eddie, she ranted at him, "Just go!"

Eddie bit his own lips, suppressing his anger towards his own bad luck and walked to the door to leave. He opened the door and just before he left, he faced Anne and softly said, "I will always love you and I promise I'll make it up to you." He shut the door behind him and rubbed his face with his right hand before he made his way to the staircase. Anne Weying sat down on her sofa, still sobbing.

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Peter walked into an empty, narrow and darkened alley just outside his apartment building. He spotted a garbage bin and threw his black suit in it, more like hurled it with rage. After that he emptied the bottle of gasoline, which he carried in his left hand, into the garbage can. Lighting a match, he watched as the black suit get engulfed in flames. The black smoke rising into the night air. After making sure that the suit was completed toasted, he turned his back onto the burning bin and left towards his apartment.


	5. Chapter 5: Behind The Mask

**Chapter 5: Behind The Mask**

"Peter, why are you so quiet?" Mary Jane asked, holding Peter's right hand over the dinner table. Peter looked away from Mary Jane and stared across his shabby old apartment. "It's nothing," he said quietly. "Peter, what's bothering you?" she asked. "Is it about that night at the church?" Peter knew it was coming and so nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, it's about that night," Peter said, feeling his heart pounding at thousand miles per hour at the very thought of the events that occurred at that time. "I'm sure it is all a mistake, Bugle is always printing garbage about Spider-Man, but it doesn't mean those stories are true," Mary Jane said, trying to comfort him. But Peter knew the terrifying truth about that night, that he, indeed, killed a man. Peter tried to relax his beating heart by taking a huge breath but it didn't help. "M. J. I got something to tell you," He said nervously. "What is it?" she asked, having a worried look on her face. "It's not a lie," Peter said, vaguely. "What's not a lie?" she asked, getting more anxious and worried. "The news, it's true," Peter said, his voice even more nervous. "I did...kill him." Mary Jane's expression changed, she appeared to be confused about what she has just heard, her grip on his hand loosened.

"Peter, what are you saying? You can't do such a thing," Mary Jane said, her voice shaking. "I didn't," Peter said, assuringly. "But I did." That made her even more confused. "Peter, what do you mean?" she asked, feeling scared of what she had just heard and probably what is she about to hear. "I did kill him...but...it wasn't me," Peter said, trying to make sense about something he was not sure of himself. "It was the suit, M. J., the suit. It was alive." Mary Jane's head was still filled with words, _I did kill him_, echoing in her mind. She couldn't believe it and it was clear that she did not wanted to believe it. "What suit?" she asked, her facial expression saddened at the news. "My black suit, it was an alien which looked like a suit and it took control of my mind that night and..." Peter stopped as soon as he saw in Mary Jane's eyes that she didn't believe a word of it. "Maybe, it was my fault," he continued, feeling guilty. "Maybe, in the end, it was my own desire to kill him and the suit just...helped fulfill my desire." His head sank low, and Mary Jane let go of his hand. As soon as she did, Peter looked up at her. She was crying quietly. The news was too much to bear, for she had known Peter for so long and something like this, is not what she expected, from neither Peter nor Spider-Man. Mary Jane got up and grabbed her purse from the chair beside her. "Where're you going?" Peter asked, also getting up. "I just need to get some air," she said, taking a sigh. "We'll take a walk outside if you want?" Peter knew asking that question was worthless for he already knew the answer. "No, I would like to go alone," Mary Jane said, leaving the apartment in rather upset mood. The apartment was quiet. Peter felt as if he was suffocating and his heart being squeezed. _I need some fresh air as well_, he thought.

Spider-Man swung from building to building, knowing he was risking himself going out in the open, but he needed it. It was refreshing. Spider-Man swung towards the Empire State building and rested on it's walls for while, staring down at the glistening city lights. His spider-sense suddenly went off. _Trouble_, he thought, quickly scanning the area around him. Nothing was there. Then he heard it, a sound of a heavy engine, a police helicopter showed up from left corner of the building. "Spider-Man, this is the N. Y. P. D, surrender now or you will be shot down," the man ordered through the megaphone. The police vehicles had also arrived below the building. "Well boys, try to catch me if you can," Spider-Man challenged them and jumped from the building. _I can't believe I just said that,_ he thought, while also smiling behind his mask at the fact that he did say it. Falling through the cool night air, speeding up as he did, he shot a web-line across the next building and swung many meters away. The helicopter turned and followed. Spider-Man went straight at first and then quickly made a sharp right turn by spinning another web-line on nearest building. The helicopter had to slow down because of the sudden turn he made. It allowed Spider-Man to gain much more distance between them. But his luck quickly disappeared as another helicopter showed up just in front of him, he had to let go of the web-line and fall a few meters to avoid it. "Spider-Man, give up or you will be shot down!" The voice of the man, from the second helicopter that had showed up, said through the megaphone. "Shoot? Are they serious?" he asked himself. Looking back, he saw that the first helicopter was just beside the second police helicopter, it had gained distance because of the quick fall he had to make to avoid the second one.

Spider-Man continued to avoid the helicopters. The police vehicles below were also trying to catch up with him, but unfortunately the heavy traffic didn't allow them much room to continue their chase with ease. A policeman in each of the two helicopters took out a rifle through the side window and opened fire on Spider-Man. "Are you guys crazy? Someone might get hurt," Spider-Man called to them. Spider-Man quickly turned right and then the first left. He tried to make it as hard on them as he could, but they were persistent. Spider-Man shot web-lines upon web-lines, trying to loose them, but they continued to follow closely, firing at him. A whole hail-storm of bullets, so it appeared to him, seemed to have just missed him. There was a short break from the shootings, they must be reloading. Spider-Man turned right and into the narrow gap between the two buildings. _They won't be able to follow me in through here,_ he thought, looking back at the hovering helicopters just outside the narrow path. The helicopters split into opposite directions and went around the whole block. Spider-Man came out of the narrow path through the opposite exit and continued to swing towards the east. He saw one of the helicopters have managed to sneak up behind him and in order to gain more speed, he dropped a few meters and shot a web-line towards the tallest building in the area. The swing distance, to his surprise, was much too big for his abilities. The helicopters, now regrouped, were left much further behind.

The swing allowed him to quickly make a right turn and then a quick left, in order to lose the police choppers. The helicopters were no where in sight, he must have lost them, at least for a while. Finding a nearly darkened alley, he swung into it and stayed stuck to the wall, about six storeys high. A thought just crossed Spider-Man's mind, he quickly removed the glove from his hand, while trying to ease down his breathing after a long chase, and checked his web-shooter canister. After checking the tip of the canister, where the actual web-fluid is released from, he found small residues of the webbing drying on sides of the tip. _It has been out for a while,_ he thought, _I was swinging for roughly about fifteen to twenty minutes and it must have emptied out just when I got out of that narrow path. _A frightening thought stirred in his mind._ That swing, _he thought, _that swing wouldn't have been possible...unless...oh my God!_ He didn't need to think much further, the red and blue of his suit quickly melted away to reveal the bleak, blackness of the alien suit.


	6. Chapter 6: Friendly No More

**Chapter 6: Friendly No More**

The time seem to have frozen as Spider-Man stared at the unearthly being wrapped around his entire body. The black suit gleamed in the moon light with strange blue glow. _I got rid of you!_ Spider-Man shouted in his mind over and over. He remembered back to the day when he confronted Hobgoblin at the church. The clanging of the bell and burning rage within himself. He seem to remember passing out and then waking up the next day in his bed. Spider-Man have had this experience before, from time to time he would find himself fatigued instead of rested after each night's sleep. Perhaps the black suit has been controlling him during his sleep. _The suit must have protected itself somehow, _he thought, _it must have known it was in danger of losing me_. Spider-Man continued to stay still in his position, stuck up against the wall in an alley, hiding from the police. He looked up at his spider emblem on his chest. That was it. "Of course, in my haste to destroy the suit, I must have overlooked such details and destroyed a fake," he thought out loud, making a clicking sound by striking his thumb with his index finger. He clearly remembered that the spider emblem on the suit he destroyed was different, like that of his red and blue suit. Suddenly, another thing popped into his mind. "The fire!" he said to himself. "The suit is susceptible to fire, why didn't I see this before? It didn't even flinch when I threw it into the fire. I should have realized then that it was a fake." It was all clear to him now, the suit he destroyed was his original suit, perhaps soaked in some paint or some other material to look like a black suit. Spider-Man tapped his head for being a fool.

But he had no time to reflect on how much of an idiot he had been, a police car had just pulled up right outside the alley with a search light directed straight in his eyes. _No time to get rid of it right now,_ he thought as he jumped high up towards the rooftop of the neighboring building. The policeman quickly got into his car and radioed the others, notifying them of Spider-Man's location. Spider-Man jumped from rooftops to rooftops before he came a to halt. A police helicopter emerged from below in front of him, as he stood on the edge of a building. "Is that Spider-man?" asked one of the two pilots. "He must have switched his outfit, it's him," said the other pilot. The policeman in the back of the helicopter with a rifle took aim at Spider-Man through the side window. Spider-Man taking advantage of the close encounter with the helicopter, quickly shot a web-line towards the rifle and pulled it right of the policeman's hand. He then jumped from the building and shooting a web-line, swung away. The second helicopter appeared right behind Spider-Man as he tried to get away. The first helicopter, in mean while, had also caught up. "Damn, they won't leave me alone," he whispered under his breath, frustration apparent in his voice. "I'm gonna take care of this once and for all." Spider-Man started to scale the wall of a tall building upwards, to the rooftop. Soon after reaching the top, he shouted at the police helicopters. "You want me? Here, why don't I let you a hand." He shot two web-lines, one at each of the helicopters. As soon as he got a good grip, he gave a hard pull on the web-lines and helicopters were drawn towards him.

Spider-Man directed all his frustration into his muscles and continued to hold on to the helicopters. The helicopters struggled to pull away, but the enraged black suit Spider-Man was too powerful for them. One of the policeman took a shot at Spider-Man, but the black suit was able to block the bullet from penetrating to the skin. "Don't you imbeciles get it? I - am - invincible!!!" he shouted at them, his voice sounded hoarse. The media helicopter hovered a considerable distance away from the scene and crew inside recorded every instance of the situation in front of them. The city watched in horror as their once beloved hero held two police helicopters at bay with his own two hands. Every channel was broadcasting the same news. Every electronic store had all its TVs tuned to the scene taking place at the rooftop of a building, people on the streets stood motionless, watching those TVs from windows.

Mary Jane sat on her couch, watching in shock the event taking place in Manhattan. The news channel showed aerial footage of Spider-Man holding down the helicopters. There was a crowd gathered below and several of the police cars formed a barricade to prevent people from getting too close to the building. Mary Jane quickly turned off her TV set and grabbing her long coat, ran out of the apartment.

The police helicopters were starting to shake violently as the pilots pulled on the control-stick. The rotors were giving out few sparks and light smoke began to rise from that area. Spider-Man pulled on the web-lines and gave out a roar, which didn't sound like him at all. "Time to end this," he said in sinister tone, as he forcefully brought both of his hands closer, which in turn drove the helicopters towards each other. He, with all his might, crossed both web-lines with each other and the helicopters came crashing into themselves. Both police helicopters went up in a great explosion. There was a lot of uproar among the crowd below as the helicopters exploded. The burning parts fell towards the ground.

Spider-Man grabbed his ribs and fell on the floor. A sudden rush of pain flooded his body. _What the hell? _He thought, crying out in pain. Then, just as soon as the feeling came, it vanished. Spider-Man quickly got up swung away. The media helicopter dared not follow after seeing what he did to the two police helicopters. The policemen, wasting no time, got into their vehicles and began their pursuit of Spider-Man. But it was of no use, Spider-Man was no where to be seen.

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Spider-Man scaled down the wall of his apartment building. The suit camouflaged him, so there was no danger of him being detected. The window was open and he went in. As soon as he stepped in, he felt another jolt of pain go through his body. "What is it with this suit?" he asked himself, grabbing his ribs again. He walked, more like limped, over to his drawer case and took out a scissor. Pulling on the suit from his arm, he cut out a little piece and placed it on the slide. Placing a chair right in front of his microscope, he sat down and examined that piece. After a while of looking through the eyepieces, he rested his back on the chair and whispered, "It's replicating!"


	7. Chapter 7: New Target

**Chapter 7: New Target**

There was a knock at the door. Peter called out, "Come in." Mary Jane entered with a worried expression all across her face. Peter sat at his study desk, lost in his thoughts. Mary Jane approached him but didn't say anything, she couldn't think of anything to say. Peter broke the bothersome silence between them, "What're you here for?" he said while blankly staring at the floor. Peter knew what she was going to say but didn't wanted to hear it, all he wanted was some peace and quiet. "Are you...you all right?" she asked, shivering softness in her voice. Peter continued to look at the floor and nodded. "Peter, why...why-" she couldn't bring herself to say it, seeing how comfortable Peter was with all that has happened in past few hours, she feared that Peter might not be himself. "Why did I _kill _those policemen?" Peter finished her sentence. He looked up at her and sighed. "I have had enough of trying to do good for this city. Every time I do something for it's betterment, I end up being a bad guy," he was walking back and forth now. "But you have never let this come between your better judgement, Peter," she finally spoke clearly, pulling her strength together. "There always be people who will try to bring you down, but you can't let that get the better of you." Peter looked enraged now, his nostrils flaring. "M. J., the whole freakin' city is after me. Just because of one little mistake."

"Killing someone is not a little mistake, Peter," Mary Jane spoke, her voice was again shaky. "This time, it was your own mistake that brought on all this trouble upon your head." Peter's face was scarlet now, his veins were bulging out of his forehead. "That vermin deserved what he got!" he shouted. "Don't you see, Mary Jane, our system is broken and I did the people of this city a favor." Mary Jane was taken by surprise at mention of her full name by Peter. "Those scums laugh at our laws."

"But you always believed in that system, Peter." Mary Jane said. "You're right, I _believed _in that system. I was a fool back then, now it is all clear to me. It is all an illusion created by the corrupt themselves to keep the righteous at bay. But not anymore!" Peter said, his fist getting redder as he pressed it even harder. "I don't know what I'm hearing," Mary Jane said, backing away from Peter. "Peter, please stop this nonsense." She pleaded with him but his mind was made up.

Peter didn't say anything and an unnatural silence fell upon the room. Peter's eyes caught his T.V. set, and the face he saw only fueled his rage. Mary Jane looked at the source of what had caused Peter to grow even more red on the face. It was Jay Jonah Jameson, on some news channel. Peter turned on the volume to listen to the news. "I have always known that bug was nothing but trouble since day one. I tried to warn all of the city but no one listened, now look what has happened. That's what your hero has done." Jameson was pointing his finger in background towards the images shown of the dead body of Hobgoblin and recent scene at a building in Manhattan, moments later the image zoomed in to show the video of the wreckage. Peter knew what he had to do next. He turned off the T.V. and threw the remote in random direction as he sprinted towards the window. "Peter, stop!" Mary Jane called out behind him. "Peter, please don't do anything stupid. The police is out there looking for you, they'll..."

"Shoot me on sight!" Peter finished for her again. He turned round to look at her and what she saw next shocked her. A black substance had just appeared out of Peter's clothing and changed into his black suit. "Peter, didn't you...you get rid of it?" she asked, her eyes wide open with fear and surprise. Peter looked at his black suit and smirked behind his mask. He turned back towards the window and as he poked his face out of it, Mary Jane gave him an ultimatum, "You go out there and you'll never see me again!" Peter grinned and without saying anything else swung out of the window. Mary Jane, surprised by the decision he had made, stood at the same spot for a minute or so. Tears trickled down her cheeks, her heart felt heavy. This was it, it was over. Cleaning the tears with her sleeve, she walked out of the apartment and closed the door behind her.


	8. Chapter 8: In Pursuit of an Enemy

**Chapter 8: In Pursuit of an Enemy**

A huge crowd had gathered all around the Daily Bugle, and atop the building stood Spider-Man with one hand holding the web line that suspended J. Jonah Jameson in mid-air. Every channel's news crew was gathered along with Daily Bugle's own video crew shooting the whole scene. The police had put a blockade from preventing people from getting too close to the building, and their helicopter hovered around the rooftops to try and get a clean shot at Spider-Man but it was of no use, the police couldn't risk shooting him otherwise Jameson would most likely to fall about 60 storey's down to his death.

"Aren't you gonna say anything you bastard!?" said Spider-Man to a frightened chief editor. He wiggled around in mid-air as Spider-Man shook the web line.

"Oh please…please…let me down will ya?" he begged, but Spider-Man ignored all his whimpering. There were tears in his eyes that Spider-Man has never seen, and he loved every minute of it.

"You are just as much responsible for ruining my life as other low life scums in this city; tell me why should I let you go?"

"I…I…" if anything Jameson was still persistent about was trying to apologize to someone else, but it came out; this time, "Forgive me…I am sorry for whatever I did."

"Too late for apologies now Jameson, my life is ruined and so is yours. Oh wait, you will no longer have a life…" he said in cheery yet evil manner. "No life at all."

Just as he was about to let go of the web-line, he felt a slight tickle in his back. Eddie Brock stood behind the edge of the roof of the building holding an iron pipe which is what probably what the tingling sensation was a moment ago.

"Brock, why on Earth would you ever wanna try that, on ME?" Spider-Man said with a feeling of dissatisfaction. With the other hand, he fired a pressurized web ball at Brock which sent him flying across the floor of the rooftop. "Well now, where was I?"

A sudden shot of pain went through his body; it was like being on fire. The suit was in pain again. _What the hell? Not now_, he said in his mind. The grip on the web-line that held Jameson began to get loose. The symbiote suit began to revert back from his face revealing it. Eddie Brock, who had just got up from the floor, shook his head in disbelief. Jameson too, stared at his torturer in total shock. "Parker?" Jameson whispered under his breath. Peter looked at Jameson with blood shot eyes, consumed by hatred and rage as he struggled to hold the web-line and bear the pain brought on by the suit.

Eddie saw this as the chance to push Spider-Man off the edge of the roof, regardless of who he was, and so he dashed towards him. But it was futile, the limbs that projected out of the alien suit caught him and he felt a great force push him backwards, and he was slowly sinking into total darkness.

Spider-Man felt great relief as the pain disappeared and the alien reformed into the suit. Jameson still hadn't recovered from the shock of comprehending all those thoughts that ran through his mind and which related to the fact that Peter Parker was Spider-Man.

"Well, look on the bright side; you got your wish before you plunge to your death, you know who Spider-Man is." Spider-Man sneered.

"Peter, you…" he couldn't find anything to say, for he was in shock, felt betrayed and- saddened.

"Good bye Mr. Jameson!"

And he let go of the line. Through those white eye pieces he saw Jameson fall, fall to his death. It was relaxing sensation to have finally removed one obstacle from his path, the path to happiness.

There was now a deathly silence among the crowd, for everyone was surprised and frightened. The police helicopter opened fire, but Spider-Man was already swinging way ahead of them and then he disappeared around the corner of a building.

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Peter stared at his horrid reflection, if that was him at all in the water, looking back at him with piercing white eye pieces that were not the same as before. His suit looked different, for a moment it seemed as if the mask had a mouth opening, but he settled with the thought of it being his imagination.

He couldn't go back to his apartment, if the media had caught his face on camera during his little inner struggle with the suit, he might not be safe anywhere. He had to find some place safe to hide, to rest.

Then he felt something, it was not his spider sense, it was just an inner feeling. Something was near. He hopped out of his hiding place, behind a large central fan unit, and surveyed the rooftop of the building, nothing. Out of nowhere a hand came down and punched him in the guts. Spider-Man quickly recovered and saw his attacker.

"IRON MAN!" he shouted, enraged. "You'll betray a friend?"

"No, it is you who has betrayed us all," Iron Man replied. "You're not the same Spider-Man I knew."

"Yeah, that weakling is gone. I am the new and improved Spider-Man"

"Richards told me all about the suit; he said it is controlling you."

"Richards was right the first time, but now I control the suit. We – are – one!"

"Then you have ignored your responsibility and now I have to do what I must."

The word _responsibility_ stirred up some unpleasant memories which only made Spider-Man more furious than ever.

"AND I'LL DO WHAT I SHOULD! I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

Spider-Man lunged at Iron-Man, almost like a wild animal lunging at its prey. But Iron-Man was fast enough to take off into the air. Spider-Man followed him quickly, swinging faster than ever.

"Richards, get ready!" Iron-Man spoke in his intercom, as he navigated through various buildings with Spider-man hot on his tail.

As Spider-Man fired another web-line, he got bombarded with intense pain, his grip on the web-lined loosened and he fell. Iron-Man broke his fall but Spider-Man was unusually able to recover much too quickly, he punched Iron-Man in the face, cracking his helmet. Iron-Man reacted by dropping him, as blood poured from his cracked helmet.

"Damn! This was my new helmet." Iron-Man said to himself. Richards brought his airship beside Iron-Man, who hopped in. "You okay?" Richards asked.

"Nothing I haven't tasted before. Where's our friend?"

"He got away. But we have to find him and quick."

"I agree, things have already gotten outta hands."

Richards pulled on the lever on the controls and thrusters came alive. The airship pushed forwards with great speed and the two left on a pursuit of an old friend, now an enemy.


	9. Chapter 9: On the Run

**Chapter 9: On the Run**

"What the hell was that?" Peter asked himself, thinking back to his confrontation with Iron-Man. He was sitting on a wooden bench in Central Park in a less conspicuous spot. An old man passed by and he stopped at where Peter was sitting. He gave him a strange look. "Yes?" Peter asked rudely. "Oh, I was jus' wonderin' what ye doin' dressed all black in this blazin' sun?"

"I like black, you gotta problem with that you old buffoon."

The old man's expression turned bitter and he walked away. Peter stared at him through his sunglasses. "People have no manners these days," he said. _What was that thing they hit me with?_ he pondered;_another second of that and my skull could have cracked open_.

A bunch of children passed by him accompanied by a middle-aged woman, one of the little girls stared at him and then she started whispering to her friend who also looked back at him. _It is getting dangerous here, they may have recognized me_. He got up and looked all around him, as soon as the coast was clear, he quickly opened a manhole right beside the bench and jumped in.

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"Where can he be hiding?" Iron-Man asked Richards, as they flew above the city. "I mean this place is like a gigantic maze, he could be anywhere especially with what you're telling me that suit can disguise him as anyone, he would have no trouble blending in with the crowd."

Richards probably didn't hear him, because he was busy readjusting his special equipment. Iron-Man coughed as he piloted the airship. "Don't worry; I tagged him when I hit him with this thing."

"What do you call that noise maker anyway?" Iron-Man asked.

"You just named it."

"Hmmm..."

Richards continued to work on his sonic-machine, and then pushed a series of buttons on his side of the airship control panel. The radar screen came on, showing a small green spot over schematic view of Central Park. "Well now that I got the frequency adjusted, his last location was here," pointing towards a spot in Central Park map. "The fact that radar isn't picking him up means either he is out of our range or he is under ground."

"Wow, you really narrowed it down. This way we'll find him in no time at all."

"Hey, at least I am trying. I suppose you can do better?"

"Of-course I can."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Nothing!"

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"Of all things I hate sewers the most," Spider-Man said to himself, his black suit blending well with the darkness of the sewers. Rats scurried around the green-mushy water. The tunnels were like a crazy labyrinth, and electric wires and pipes that ran across the ceiling and deep into the tunnel, appeared like veins. _Where can I go? _he started asking himself again, _if those kids recognized me, who knows how many others saw my face on TV_.

From his numerous visits to the sewers, he has gotten to know them well. He arrived at his apartment. Disguising himself as a homeless man, he came out of the sewers in the alleyway right beside his apartment building. He walked casually around the building and went inside to his apartment. Opening the door, he found Marry Jane sitting on a sofa, waiting for him.


	10. Chapter 10: Friend or Foe

**Chapter 10: Friend or Foe**

"I thought you weren't coming back?" Peter asked Mary Jane as she got up, looking at what he wore. Peter's suit quickly changed to something more formal. Mary Jane was furious and scared at the same time, "What have you done?" Her eyes were sparkling, tears most probably. "I took care of a problem that has bothered me for a long time," Peter spoke firmly. "Tell me, did anyone see my face when I was up there?"

"No," she replied. Mary Jane didn't want to discuss the events of that place, but Peter gave her a look to continue. "Everything just went crazy for a while as soon as your suit started to give away. TVs and cameras all broke down or something." Peter started to wonder as to what was the cause of this little rather lucky coincidence, if coincidence at all. After a brief moment of silence, there was a knock at the door. Peter motioned Mary Jane to open the door, as he positioned himself behind it and got ready to tackle any hostility. She opened the door and was greeted by Mr. Fantastic and Iron-Man. "Mr. Richards, what…what are you doing here?" she asked, her voice bit nervous. "We came here to see Peter just like you."

Peter revealed himself from behind the doorway, his face showing clear signs of how unwelcome they were. "Go away!" Peter demanded. "Easy, Peter," Iron-Man said, taking a step in. "We're here as friends, not enemies." Peter pushed him back; even that little push drove him against the wall of the hallway outside his apartment door. "Calm down, we just wanna talk," Richards said, grabbing him by the shoulder. "Don't touch me!" Peter commanded as he jerked his hand away. "Get out!"

Iron-Man quickly fired a silver-wire from his hand-piece that wrapped itself around Peter, completely immobilizing him. Peter struggled to break it, but it was too strong for him. "Reed, quickly! It won't last for long." Richards took out a syringe from his little compartment in his belt. He inserted the syringe into the suit Peter was wearing, knowing full well it was the alien suit that Peter would never part with. "This serum will paralyze the alien and send it in a state of comatose, for couple of hours," Richards explained. "For a while, you'll be yourself, I hope."

The serum reacted fast, Peter shouted and collapsed on the floor, he was in agony. "What the hell is wrong with him?" Iron-Man asked, quickly picking Peter up in his arms and going into the only bedroom in his apartment. He laid Peter down gently, as he shook violently in his arms. "It is a side-reaction, this was bound to happen. He has been in contact with the alien for too long, he couldn't take this separation from the suit." Iron-Man took off his broken helmet, and breathed out loud as he spoke, "But the suit is still on him?" he asked, confused.

"Yes, but when I injected the serum, the alien involuntarily released its hold over his mind. So, the bond is broken, to some extent at least." Iron-Man nodded, pretending to understand all this. "You're Tony Stark," a soft voice said behind them. Mary Jane seemed quite surprised. "I trust this won't go beyond these walls?" Tony asked for affirmation. Mary Jane nodded, "Just help him."

"We will, we will."

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Peter made slight movements after roughly two hours had passed. "He's awake," exclaimed Tony, who sat beside his bed on a chair. Richards and Mary Jane walked in. Peter was still a bit out of it, he was murmuring something while his eyes were shut. He was covered in sweat and made hand gestures as if trying to make something that wasn't there, go away. "What's wrong with him?" Mary Jane asked, having a worried look spread across her face seeing Peter in that situation.

"He isn't taking alien rejection very well, at least his body is not," explained Richards. "He'll also suffer sudden violent attacks, luckily." Mary Jane was outraged at Richards' last statement. "What do you mean, luckily?" her face glowed red; Richards smiled seeing her like that, appreciating her love for Peter. "That's a good thing," Richards continued. "That will prove that his body is adjusting to normality, otherwise we can never be sure if the alien has really separated from his body." Mary Jane gave a sigh of relief, but her face still showed sign of unpleasantness that came over her after what Richards had said, even after he apologized for his rather bad choice of words. "Why don't you just take the suit off of him?" she asked. "Not now, physical separation so early can also be harmful for his body," Richards explained. "We have to be patient, don't worry. Peter will be Peter again."

That was comforting to hear, but for some reason Mary Jane didn't believe a word of it. She knew Peter enough to know that it was him, not some alien, behaving in hostile manner all this time. But she had to be optimistic; after all, she loved him and wanted him back to how he used to be.

Peter sat up with a jolt after few minutes of silence that fell over the room. His breathing was heavy, as if he had just come up from deep water. "Wha…what happened?" he asked, completely lost. "Just lay back down, you need to rest," Tony said, as he grabbed him by the shoulders and softly pushed him back on the bed, Peter made no signs of resistance. "You were taken over by alien suit, friend. We're trying to separate you from…" Peter cried out loud at the mention of the word _alien_. "I'm…I'm…Oh my God, what have I done?" he was crying, his eyes were full of tears. "Peter, it's alright, it wasn't you," Mary Jane sat down beside him on the bed, her eyes too in tears seeing Peter like this.

"But it was, I remember everything all to well, it was me not this…this" he began tearing his suit off, but Tony stopped him. "You don't want to do that friend, the alien has released its hold on your mind but not your body, not yet," Richards explained everything to Peter. Peter didn't like the idea of leaving the suit on, he knows what will happen once the suit recovers, but if he wanted to get rid of the suit and live, he had to leave it be, for now. According to Richards, the suit has been given a heavy dose and won't recover until several hours from now, that several hours been unknown but a long term effect for sure.


	11. Chapter 11: The Other

**Chapter 11: The Other**

Peter and Richards sat in the living room, which was also his dining room, sipping coffee while Tony stood staring out the window. Mary Jane took a seat in the corner of the room and kept quiet the whole time Peter and Richards chatted. "How'd you find me?" Peter asked. Richards pointed towards a steel-cylindrical object strapped on Tony's back, "Using that."

"It is a sonic gun which I used to immobilize you, which only lasted a few seconds if you remember from our meeting atop the city," Richards continued to explain. Peter did not respond to that last comment in any way, he continued to listen with keen concentration. "It was also equipped with a tiny dart that I used to inject nano-homing-beacons into your suit that I had set to a certain frequency. So, when you surfaced we just followed the blip on my radar."

Peter nodded, but didn't comment on Richards' genius which he used to whenever he was impressed. Rather he continued to ask him questions, "MJ told me there was some sort of interference with TVs and cameras, did you guys had something to do with it?"

"You're good," Richards commented. "We used a jamming device to temporarily cause interference in the TV signals and short out any electrical equipment within 1.5 mile range. I knew the suit would give away as soon as I fired my sonic-gun at you but I didn't even have to do that. What happened?"

"You mean it wasn't you that caused the suit to go crazy?" Peter asked; confused as to what actually happened. Richards shook his head.

Peter thought back to the event, to what had happened. Some unpleasant memories stirred, but he had to find out what happened. He immediately got up and grabbed Richards by the shoulder, "Is Mr. Jameson…is he?"

"He is fine," Tony assured him, turning around from the window and walking about the room. "I caught him in time, though; he was out cold before he even reached the ground."

Peter breathed a sigh of relief as he sat back down on his chair, waving his hand through his hairs as if it was tension relieving. "Peter, what happened?" Richards posed the question again. Peter now knew exactly what had happened with the suit that night, it had happened before as he remembered. "It was the suit," he said, looking at the enthusiastic faces of Tony and Richards, and worried Mary Jane who continued to be just being an observer. "The suit is trying to replicate."

Richards and Tony both looked amazed, Mary Jane did not care for the alien, only what happened to Peter. "You mean it is trying to reproduce?" Tony asked.

"Yeah," Richards said. "It makes sense since it is a living organism. Though, I didn't know that it could do that asexually."

Tony turned on the TV and flipped through various channels until something caught everyone's attention. "Here's something of interest."

"This was the scene after another confrontation of the police with black-suit Spider-Man early this morning," the news reporter said as the video in the background zoomed into full screen. A road lay in ruins; cars were turned over as if they were tossed around, lamppost bending half way down, shards of glass covered the ground and there were even few red stains on various spots that could possibly be blood. "As you can see, this place has been turned into a battle ground. The whole area has been blocked off by the police, from Broadway to Greenwich St. Right now…"

"How is it possible? Peter's been with us the whole time!" exclaimed Mary Jane, who finally spoke after long moment of silence. Everyone in the room was just as confused as she was. But Richards demonstrated his genius again. "Peter, did the suit trouble you after you went into hiding, I mean did you had any sudden attack of pain like the time on the roof?"

"No, it has been fine. What? Do you mean..?" Peter had too caught on to what Richards was implying.

"Yes, it is possible."

"Hello, geniuses! Don't keep us in the dark will ya?" Tony spoke in between.

"Tony, we may have a Spider-Man doppelganger on our hand," Richards said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the suit has already reproduced and someone is having time of his life playing Spidey."

"I saw it, I saw him!" said an old lady in the TV, who by an appearance seemed homeless. "He looked at me with those demonic white eyes and grinned at me. Oh, he was pure evil. He is a devil I tell you, a_devil_."

Richards turned off the TV; Peter had already gotten his red and blue suit out of the closet. "Where do you think you're going?" Richards asked Peter.

"You saw what happened and what she said. It is my fault and I have to correct it."

"You still have to be separated from the alien suit; it's too dangerous for you to go out there with it on. Who knows what'll happen."

"I have got to take that chance."

"I'll go, you stay!" Tony commanded by grabbing Peter and shoving him on the chair. "Don't worry; I can take care of it."

Peter glared at him for forcing him down like this, but they had a point. If he was to be rid of the suit he had to avoid getting into hot confrontations so the suit has no means to take him over again, not to great extents at least. "Be careful, Tony," Richards said, as Tony put his cracked helmet on and jumped out the window, boosting into the air after he did. "Ok, Peter, I have to give the suit another dose of the serum, I guess these several hours are enough of a gap for it to work without troubling you, much."

Peter didn't say anything; he continued to look out the window in the direction where Tony had flown. Richards took out another syringe from his belt compartment and gently inserted it into the suit. Peter watched carefully as the serum emptied into the alien entity stuck to his skin, as so did Mary Jane standing behind the chair where Peter sat. All waited quietly for something to happen, but nothing did.

"Hmm, either the serum worked way better than I thought or it didn't work at all. There is no reaction, at least none that is visible." Richards said, looking quite astonished. Peter too felt something was wrong.

"Are you sure something was supposed to happen?" Peter asked. Richards nodded.

"The serum contained micro-organisms, more like a virus, which would attack symbiote's ability to bond with any host. The first dose only caused it to separate from your mind as I explained. Which was enough to release its hold on you temporarily, but this one, this serum was designed to completely destroy its ability to bond. So, I guess there should be some reaction."

Peter thought about it, and it made sense. The symbiote has been bonded for very long time and judging by Peter's antics, it had quite a hold on him; in which case the alien should have responded in some way. Richards reached for the suit, and his facial expression changed. It was nor worried or satisfied, "Humph."

Peter and Mary Jane spoke at once, "What's wrong?"

"The suit… it appears to be… _dead_."

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Iron-Man flew over the city, looking for anyone dressed in all black and who appeared to be very much like Spider-Man, but he had no such luck. Whomever he asked on the streets, all gave him vague to no answers regarding his latest location. But his luck was soon about to change, for he was being followed by a black clad Spider-Man, or so he appeared from distance.

Iron-Man had was not aware someone was following him, until that someone got really close to him and tapped him once on his metal back. Iron-Man surprised by the sudden appearance of this character, immediately stopped in mid-air. The figure continued to swing away, and Iron-Man understood that it wanted him to follow, and he did.

After leading Iron-Man from deep confines of the city to its abandoned corners, the figure landed inside an old, half torn down building. Iron-Man hovered in mid-air for couple of seconds, thinking about any possibility that it could be a trap but decided to go in anyway. Landing in through the window, he found the figure standing in the dark corner of the room; only its legs from the knees were visible through the available sunlight. The room smelled of ashes, the building was probably decimated from an explosion.

"Nice to finally meet you," the figure said, his voice sounded deep, and unworldly as if the person was possessed by another being and they were trying to speak at once. "I have been looking for you."

"Who are you?" Iron-Man asked firmly, not showing any friendly gesture and standing in battle stance.

"I am your friend who…"

"I'll make the decision of that. Why did you attack those police officers this morning?"

"A simple misunderstanding, I assure you. I was actually looking for that no good Spider-Man, you too, I believe."

"Yes I was, but…"

"So you found him?"

"What does it matter you if I found him or not?"

"It matters. Like the good folks of this city, I am too tired of that wall-crawler and it is our duty, _your_ duty, to rid this city of Spider-Man."

"If you were any hero, you'd know this isn't how we work."

"Than, I guess I am far too better than you or anyone like you."

"I doubt that."

The figure stepped out of the darkness and Iron-Man slightly shivered as he saw what was in front of him. The man or whatever it was appeared to be just like Spider-Man, only a bit bulkier. Its mask was horribly disfigured, and it almost looked like a skin than a mask for it had a mouth through which it grinned at him, a very uncomfortable grin.

"Tell me, where is Peter?" he said, in a menacing, hoarse voice. Iron-Man, though it wasn't visible through the mask, looked shocked to learn that this person knew who Spider-Man was. "Tell me or I would have no compunction about ripping you apart right here and now."

"Bring it on, buddy."

"I… am… VENOM!"


	12. Chapter 12: Confrontations

**Chapter 12: Confrontations**

Peter walked about the living room, lost in thoughts. Richards was busy looking into Peter's microscope at his study desk, the dead suit lying on far left side of the desk. Richards continued to look through the eyepieces as he observed the sample of the alien. The cells did not show any signs of life; some appeared to have yellow stains in them, probably from the serum. All the while Mary Jane sat staring at the two, feeling useless. After all, there was not much she could do except worry about Peter who, by the way, seemed all better now. She got up and walked into the kitchen. Peter looked at her as if he hadn't seen her for a long time, not as he used to under normal days. He followed her there, and she was just standing there at the counter, staring down at the sink.

"MJ," Peter said softly. "You okay?"

She had tears in her eyes which she tried to hide with best of her abilities. But Peter knew her well. He walked up to her and put his right hand on her shoulder. Mary Jane embraced him as she cried openly now, tears trickling down her red cheeks.

"Hey, it's okay," Peter comforted her by sliding his hand on her back very gently, again and again. "It is all over."

"I am just glad you're alright, Peter. I felt so scared. I thought I might lose you forever."

"It's not that easy to get rid of me," Peter joked, giving her a smile. Mary Jane slapped him on his arm for that. "Sorry."

"Why don't you give this all up? We could live our life without Spider-Man."

"We've have discussed this before, MJ. I know it can seem pretty tough at times, but this is something we can't give up, not like this."

Mary Jane sobbed. She nodded, knowing it was useless to convince him of giving up being Spider-Man.

"I can't say how much it means to me that you stood by me after all that I said," Peter said, his tone was apologetic. "Forgive me, Mary Jane."

"Oh, Peter."

They both embraced each other; Peter too had tears in his eyes now. Just as they were about to kiss, Richards walked in, interrupting the moment. "Whoops!" He apologized and stepped back out. Peter and Mary Jane just gave each other a warm smile, as she wiped the tears with her hand.

"What did you find?" Peter asked Richards when he walked into his room. He sat on the chair next to the study desk. Mary Jane stood right behind Peter.

"Well, you see, even before I injected the suit with the first dose of the serum, it was already dying. The serum caused it to separate from your mind and thus accelerating the time of death because it no longer had the means to feed on or live on."

"But isn't this all a good thing," Mary Jane suggested. "I mean if that awful thing is dead, there is no danger from it."

"You have a point," Richards said, cracking his knuckles as he thought about the situation in front of him. "But how did it just die?"

"Maybe it failed to bond with me successfully?" Peter said to himself more than he did to Richards. "Maybe I never actually accepted it; subconsciously. But after I dropped Jameson, I was sure that would be it."

"I don't know Peter," Richards said. "Perhaps it was the replication process. You know how sometimes when a mother births a child; sometimes it's not possible for both to survive. Maybe it's the same situation here."

"Perhaps, but we have got bigger things to worry about now. Like that other Spider-Man and Tony's going after him. We've got to find them!"

_In some forgotten part of the city…_

Venom lunged at Iron-Man, sending both of them through the brick wall into the next room. He was too fast for Iron-Man for he disappeared for one quick second and sneaked up on him and kicked him on his back. Drops of blood gushed out of his cracked helmet. Iron-Man had taken that time to ready his concentrated laser weapon in his right hand piece. As Venom lunged at him again, he dropped on his back to evade the attack and fired the laser as he went over him. The laser fazed him a little but didn't stop him from attacking, like a mad dog he got up much too quickly and fired black webbing at his laser weapon, pulling it apart.

Iron-Man used his jets to boost towards Venom sending him through another brick wall. He waited for him to come running at him back through the hole in the wall but he didn't. The room in which he landed was darkened so nothing inside was visible, Iron-Man waited and waited but he didn't come. He felt in his guts something was wrong. Suddenly he fell on his back and was wrapped around by black tentacles; Venom had sneaked up on him again. "How the hell…?" Iron-Man cried out, surprised.

"I can extend limbs from my suit, does your suit has that capability?" Venom asked, laughing menacingly. He retracted his tentacles while also tying Iron-Man in his webbing, and holding him upside down in front of him.

"No," Iron-Man responded, while still being suspended upside down by Venom. "But it can do this!"

"Yeah, do what?" Venom asked. Nothing happened. "Do wha...ah…AAARRRRGGGH!"

Venom shouted at the top of his lungs, releasing his hold on Iron-Man and dropping him.

"You bastard, you tried to burn me!" Venom shouted at him, rubbing his right arm.

"I know how you can't take immense heat."

"See how you take this!"

Iron-Man, even though he saw it, could not evade Venom's attack for he had extended numerous limbs from his suit that came from every corner, which bounded his arms and legs. Venom swung the bounded Iron-Man around a full 360 degrees, finally releasing him as he went through the wall and fell out the building four storey's down. Venom looked down through the hole in the wall at the still body of Iron-Man. He jumped down straight towards him, but Iron-Man quickly rolled aside. Venom fell hard on the ground, dazed for couple of seconds but recovering quickly.

"You know," Iron-Man said, trying to catch his breath for his suit had suffered quite a lot of damage. His helmet view gave him the description of the extensive damage that suit had suffered. "What I can't figure is if you know who Spider-Man is, why didn't you make it public?"

"I want him to myself," Venom said, not leaving his guard down if Iron-man tried something as they talked. "Besides, making this public would be troublesome for all of us."

"Well I can't argue with that."

Venom fired a web-line, but Iron-Man was quick this time to avoid it but in that moment he had fired a second web-line that caught him by the throat. He was pulled towards Venom, choking as he did.

"Now, tell me where is Peter!" Venom demanded, choking him harder. Iron-Man pointed towards his throat. "Oh, yeah, right."

After Venom loosened the grip, Iron-Man took in huge breath of air and said "Go ta hell, you slime!"

Venom now enraged, punched Iron-Man in the chest hard enough for it crack. He continued to punch him until Iron-Man groaned from pain. "I swear I'll kill you if don't tell me where he is."

Iron-Man was too beaten to respond in anyway. Venom released him and he dropped to the ground, not moving at all. Venom stood there thinking about something. "I can try his apartment but even he isn't stupid enough to go there. It would be too obvious," he murmured under his breath. He started grinning. "But than again, sometimes the most obvious place is the place to look. I'll check it out after I take care of personal business."


End file.
